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The Influence of Cartoon Character Advertising on Fruit and Vegetable Preferences of
9-11 Year-Old Children
Ardith Brunt, PhD, RD Nandita Bezbaruah, PhD
Background: Food Ads for Youngsters
• The annual $1.79 billion* of food advertising targeted to children and adolescents has generally been for non-nutrient dense foods
• Over $89 million using cartoon spokes-characters
• Children/adolescents view about 40,000 ads per year
*2012 Report: Marketing food to children and adolescents: A review of industry expenditures, activities and self-regulation.
Background: Nutrition in Marketed Foods
• Modest improvement in nutrients to increase: Fiber, whole grain, calcium and vitamin D
• Calories and fat were higher in foods marketed to children than youth, but lower in sugar
Background: Methods of Promoting Foods & Beverages to Youth
• Cross-promotion across a variety of media – Television and movies – Product packaging and in-store displays – Cartoon characters, toys – Video games – Theme parks – Internet and advergaming
• 90% of companies do online marketing
Background: Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) • 16 leading consumer packaged food
companies and quick serve restaurants • Voluntary self-regulation • Limit advertising to children • If advertise to children, meeting meaningful,
science-based nutrition criteria • Commit to not engage in child-directed
advertising
Background: The 16 Signers to CFBAI
• McDonalds USA • Burger King Corp • Kraft Foods Group • Mars, Inc. • Nestle USA • ConAgra Foods, Inc. • Coca-Cola Co • PepsiCo, Inc.
• Dannon Co. • Campbell Soup Co. • General Mills, Inc. • Hershey Co. • Kellogg Co. • Post, LLC • Hillshire Farms
– (formerly Sara Lee Corp)
• Unilever US
Walt Disney Company
• Magic of Healthy Living with the Mickey Check - released in June 2012
• “Mickey Check” tool, an icon that calls out nutritious food and menu items sold in stores, online, and at restaurants and food venues at its U.S. Parks and Resorts. By the end of 2012 the “Mickey Check” will appear on licensed foods products.
http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/citizenship/magic-healthy-living
Nickelodeon Ads Shows Improvement
• 2012 in-house review of ads in 31 hours of Nickelodeon programs
• Majority of the CFBAI participant ads were for foods containing fruit, vegetables, whole grains or non/low-fat dairy
• Upward trend from 48% of the foods advertised in the 2010 sample to 72% in the 2012 sample
Not All Is Improved at Nickelodeon
• Food ads were only 23% of all of the ads • Ads for sedentary entertainment (video
games, movies and show promos) more prevalent
Other Factors Influencing Child Preferences
• Availability of the fruits and vegetables • Modeling of behavior by parents/guardians • Taste
• Research shows strongest influences are
taste and accessibility
Outline
• Child survey • Parental survey • Child experimental study
Purpose of Child Survey
• To examine the factors that influence intake of fruit and vegetables from the 9-11 year old child’s perspective – Knowledge – Advertising – Psychological factors – Sensory perceptions
Methods • 4 elementary schools were randomly
selected from 8 within a Midwestern school district
• Parent and child surveys were distributed to 475 households that included 3rd and 4th grade students within the 4 school samples
• 233 surveys were returned for a 49% return rate
The Child Survey
• 10-item survey • Rank order 8 factors related to
preferences for consuming fruit • Rank order same 8 factors for vegetables • Availability within the home • Likelihood of parental purchase of fruit and
vegetables
Which (fruit/veg) would you be more likely to eat?
• One that tastes good • One that has the picture of a cartoon
character such as Sponge Bob, Dora the Explorer etc.
• One that is good for me • One that I have not tasted before • One that looks good • One that smells good
Results: Demographic Characteristics of Students
Characteristic Category Number (%)
Gender Male 102 (47%)
Female 116 (53%)
Grade Level 3rd grade 57 (26%)
4th Grade 161 (74%)
Race White Non-white
197 (90%) 21 (10%)
Results: Child Rating of Influences of Selecting Fruits and Vegetable
Rank ordered using Kendall’s W test
Results: Gender and Grade
• No gender differences: – Taste #1 – Nutrition – Appearance
• No grade differences for top 3 considerations – 3rd graders placed more of a priority for a
spokescharacter on label (p<0.05) yet very low on the list of considerations
Results
• Non- significant relationship between requests for F&V and those who eat more F&V with spokes-characters on label
• Non-significant relationship between availability of F&V in the home and increased intake of F&V with spokes-characters on the label.
Results
• The children who asked the person who was shopping to buy fruit were more likely to report liking fruit than those who didn’t ask (p<0.05).
• Results were similar for vegetables.
Interpretation of Student Survey Results
• Taste is still number 1 consideration for both fruits and vegetables
• Children report that cartoon advertising on labels have little influence on preference for any particular fruit or vegetable
• Nutrition is number 2. Perhaps marketing taste with nutrition will improve consumption
Factors Influencing Parental Purchase of
Fruits and Vegetables
Background
• Cost is often cited as the primary reason for food purchase choices
• Other factors also influence choice of foods, especially fruits and vegetables that are purchased
at the grocery store • Parents are the primary
gatekeeper for foods that enter the home
Purpose of Parent Survey
• The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence fruit and vegetable purchasing decisions of consumers with responsibility for young children
Methods • The parents/guardians ranked in order of
influence 8 factors they considered when purchasing fruits and vegetables
• Analysis ranked by Kendall’s W test • ANOVA was used to assess the impact
parental/guardian education and marital status on their individual rankings
What determines your purchasing decision when it comes to
fruits and vegetables? • Taste • Nutrition • Family likes and dislikes • Children’s likes and dislikes • Availability • Convenience • Cost • Others (please specify)
Demographic Characteristics of the Parental Respondents
Characteristic Category N (%)
Gender Male 39 (17)
Female 193 (83)
Race White 209 (90)
Non-white 23 (10)
Marital status Single 17 ( 7)
Married 185 (80)
Separated 5 ( 2)
Divorced 25 (11)
Education High school diploma or less 27 (12)
Some college 58 (25)
2 year college degree 53 (23)
4 year college degree or higher 94 (40)
Results: Ranking of Factors Influencing Purchase of Fruits and Vegetables
The lowest number is the most influential.
Composite Variable vs. Cost or Nutrition
• Created a composite variable of family likes/dislikes, taste and child likes/dislikes – Composite variable ranked greater than cost:
0.19 (p<0.05) – Composite variable ranked greater than
nutrition: 0.04 (<0.05) • Composite variable as a group more
important than either cost or nutrition
Educational Level and Leading Factors Influencing Fruits and Vegetables Purchase
Educational level Leading 3 factors
High school diploma or less 1. Taste
2. Child likes/dislikes
3. Nutrition
Some college 1. Family likes/dislikes
2. Taste
3. Child likes/dislikes
2-year college degree 1. Family likes/dislikes
2. Child likes/dislikes
3. Taste
4-year college degree or higher 1. Family likes/dislikes
2. Taste
3. Nutrition
Educational Level and Factors Influencing Purchase of Fruits and Vegetables
Factors High school
diploma or
less
Mean SD
Some
college
Mean SD
2 year
college
degree
Mean SD
4 year college
degree or
higher
Mean SD F-v
alu
e
P-v
alu
e
Family likes 3.70 1.94 2.78 1.67 2.57 1.31 2.57 1.65 3.16 0.03
Taste 2.61 1.82 2.93 1.65 3.24 1.65 2.83 1.47 1.05 0.37
Child likes 3.22 1.65 3.16 1.83 3.02 1.63 3.49 1.67 0.95 0.42
Nutrition 3.48 2.04 3.53 1.70 4.06 1.82 3.38 1.71 1.62 0.19
Cost 5.00 1.91 4.57 2.13 3.90 2.20 5.03 2.09 3.28 0.02
Availability 4.52 1.66 5.26 1.36 5.27 1.71 4.85 1.48 2.07 0.11
Convenience 5.65 1.58 5.62 1.45 5.61 1.58 5.83 1.47 0.33 0.82
Others 7.83 0.65 7.98 0.13 8.00 0.00 7.89 0.72 1.06 0.37
Three Leading Factors for Purchase of Fruits and Vegetables by Marital Status Marital Status Leading 3 Factors
Single
1. Taste
2. Family likes/dislikes
3. Child likes/dislikes
Married 1. Family likes/dislikes
2. Taste
3. Child likes/dislikes
Separated / Divorce 1. Family likes/dislikes
2. Child likes/dislikes
3. Taste
Conclusions • Family and child preferences as well as
taste appear to be the major factors when selecting fruit and vegetables for the family
• Overall cost does not appear to be a primary factor
• Nutrition education should focus on influencing family food preferences to include more fruits and vegetables
Do Spokes-Characters Improve Consumption of Vegetables
among Children?
Spokes-Characters in Ads
• Use of celebrity spokespersons are another marketing tool to increase brand awareness
• Presence of celebrity spokesperson changes the child’s perception of that product
Purpose of Consumption Study: This study tested the effect of a celebrity spokes-character on consumption of green beans among fourth grade children
Study Participants • 4th grade students in 4 randomly selected
schools within a Midwestern school district • 256 eligible students during Time 1 • 237 eligible students during Time 2 • Ethnicity: 90% white • Income:
– Free lunch eligibility: 24% – Reduced price lunch eligibility: 9%
Experimental Design
• During Time 1 green beans were served without a picture of a spokes-character
• During Time 2 the same brand and preparation of green beans were served with a picture of a spokes-character
Poster Used in Experiment
Outcome Analysis
• Chi-square tests to compare: – Difference between
the number of students who selected green beans
– Amount of green beans consumed
Participants Who Selected Green Beans
• Time 1: 73 students (32 boys, 41 girls) – 22% of eligible 4th graders
• Time 2: 92 students (44 boys, 48 girls) – 28% of eligible 4th graders
• A total of 125 oz. of beans were consumed without the spokes-character
After Adding Spokes-Character
• How many more selected beans? – 37% more boys – 17% more girls chose green beans (p<.01)
• How much was consumed? – 125 oz. of beans were consumed without the
spokes-character – 145 oz. that were consumed with the picture
of a spokes-character (p=.04)
Results: Consumption of Green Beans with and without Spokes-Character
Gender Number
who took
green
beans
Amount
consumed
(Total oz)
Average oz
consumed
per person
Time 1 * Male 32 58 1.81
Time 1 Female 41 67 1.63
Time 2** Male 44 64 1.45
Time 2 Female 48 81 1.69
1 serving of green beans = 2 oz. by weight *Time 1 no spokes-character **Time 2 with spokes-character
Results: Boys Consumption
Results: Girls Consumption
Conclusions
• Nutrition educators should be cognizant that advertising vegetables can increase the number of students selecting vegetables, which could result in increased consumption of that vegetable
• Health educators can develop messages for nutritious food that are targeted towards children utilizing the persuasive nature of some of the advertisements
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